This invention relates to a positive-working radiation-sensitive recording material comprising a support and a radiation-sensitive layer that contains as the essential constituents
(a) a compound which forms a strong acid under the action of actinic radiation,
(b) a compound which has at least one acid-cleavable C--O--C bond, and
(c) a polymeric binder. The material is, in particular, suitable for the production of printing plates and photoresists.
Such materials are known in the art and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,915,706, 3,917,483, 3,779,778 and 3,984,253, in German Offenlegungsschriften Nos. 26 10 842, 27 18 254 and 30 23 201 and in European Patent Applications Nos. 6626, 6627 and 22 571. They have a substantially higher light-sensitivity than the customary positive-working radiation-sensitive recording materials based on 1,2-quinone diazides. However, it is a disadvantage of these recording materials that they do not have a satisfactory storage stability when they are used with support materials, for example, aluminum, copper, steel, zinc, brass, chromium and plastic sheets that are customarily employed in photolithographic and reprographic applications. Storage stability is, in particular, unsatisfactory when the support materials have been pretreated with acidic or alkaline agents, as are generally and preferably employed to improve the adhesion of the radiation-sensitive layers. The same applies when reaction products of an acidic or basic nature have formed on the surfaces of the support materials, by the action of air and/or moisture.